What professions are right for Aspies?

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I am wondering..... while I did dream of being a teacher a while ago, the fact that I have to socialize heavily has me somewhat rethinking that strategy.

So, with that said, what kind of profession could we approach? Pro athlete, maybe. I dunno if I can think of any others off the top of my head........ but that's one.

I make my living from teaching. I wouldn't consider what I do to be socialising. All it is is conveying information clearly to the children without being mean to them. Much easier than socialising.

That's really interesting- I failed teacher training earlier this year because I couldn't cope with the noise/chaos in the classroom and had rubbish behaviour management although I liked the timetable/routine, lesson planning, marking etc. I'm thinking of reapplying for this year...

I do instrumental music teaching, so I only have to deal with a few students at a time. I'd have real problems managing a whole classroom.

It all depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are.

There is a huge amount of variation in Aspies that it is pretty hard to narrow down a few careers that would work well.

I like the idea of teaching because I tend to be pedantic by nature, but if I were to teach children, they would probably have me tied up, gagged and thrown into a corner before the end of the first day. (I don't know how to deal with children). But teaching adults who were interested in the subject, photography for example, could be interesting.

I would guess if an Aspie wanted to do professional sports, it would be best to favor ones that don't require as much team work. I enjoy cycling because I am only competing with myself.

My guess is that the best work for an Aspie is that which allows you to concentrate for long periods of time without interruption from others. My skills are mostly in visual things so my work of motion graphics and still photo retouching as well as some photography is ideal for my personality. I get an assignment to create an animation or retouch a photo and then I go off and do the work alone, showing my progress along the way. One thing that drives me nuts is when my boss wants to sit with me while I work on an animation.

Computer programming is another field that demands long periods of concentration.

Some people also enjoy data entry work. While intellectually boring, this kind of work, for the right person, can leave your mind free to wander and allows you to use your creative energy for your interests outside of work.

Janitorial or stocking work can be appealing for the same reasons. I spent 9 years working as a movie theatre projectionist because it gave me a great deal of free time to write or read or otherwise do stuff between threading and starting projectors. It won't pay well, but if it pays enough for you to survive and be happy, that's all that matters.

There are trade offs in any career choice. In mine, the work can dry up quickly and I have to scramble to make enough to survive. My father worked as an engineer for the government which was a safe job, but very limited in terms of his freedom to do what he chose. My brother is a research scientist with a pharmaceutical company and is quite successful, but works insanely long hours.

I was a database manager for 26 years - some teaching and general office work involved. I would have been interested in working in a library.

Working in a library seems awesome, but to work at one here it seems like you have to know someone or have some sort of connection to even get your foot in the door.